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Dinitrogen conversion to ammonia is of great biological and industrial relevance, but modelling this process on a molecular level is challenging. Now, a biomimetic model offers new insights into the functionalization of a nitrido ligand to form NH3 using either H2 or H+/e–.
Why do bulky anions solubilize macromolecules in water but precipitate out the corresponding monomers? The answer lies in the differences in local water structure. Polymers have now been shown to disrupt water structure more than their monomers, leading to an accumulation of anions near the polymers that increases their solubility.
Innovations in instrumentation together with new strategies of data collection and processing have been shown to solve the problem of data quality for time-resolved in situ X-ray diffraction studies on ball milling, opening new horizons in mechanochemistry.
Membraneless coacervate droplets have been widely investigated as potential candidates for early cells or protocells. Now, they are shown to grow, divide and differentiate into two populations in a rock pore model that mimics an early Earth environment.
Bilayer borophene, predicted to be stabilized by interlayer linkages, has now been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on copper and silver surfaces in two independent studies. The growth substrate and temperature are found to influence the lattice structures formed.
Medium-chain linear α-olefins are commodity chemicals; however, manufacturing α-olefins from biomass is challenging due to inefficient removal of the last oxygen atoms. Now, a two-step biological–chemical catalysis strategy to produce medium-chain linear α-olefins provides a route to sustainable polymers.
Atmospheric chemists have been unable to explain the rapid sulfate formation observed during wintertime aerosol pollution events. Now, kinetic measurements in atmospherically relevant aerosol particles have highlighted a significant role for nitrogen dioxide in sulfate formation via its interfacial reaction with dissolved SO2.
A protein–nanopore machine that can unfold, thread and degrade a protein has now been developed. Fabricated in a bottom-up fashion, the nanopore machine is assembled from three proteins and provides an important step towards deciphering the sequence of single proteins via nanopores.
Machine learning algorithms are fast surpassing human abilities in multiple tasks, from image recognition to medical diagnostics. Now, machine learning algorithms have been shown to be capable of accurately predicting the folded structures of proteins.
Phase separation offers a fundamental mechanism for organization and compartmentalization. Now, peptide-based synthons have been shown to form catalytically active coacervates providing a stepping stone for creating synthetic primitive cells.
Diazoolefins are long-sought-after compounds, but experimental evidence for them is limited because of their high reactivity. Now, it has been shown that the reaction of N-heterocyclic olefins with nitrous oxide provides access to diazoolefins, enabling structural characterization and applications in organometallic and synthetic chemistry.
Aziridines — three-membered nitrogen-containing heterocycles — are important synthetic targets, but N-alkyl aziridines are difficult to synthesize. Now, an electrochemical method, involving a dicationic intermediate, enables the coupling of alkenes and amines.
Finding alternative fates for plastics that would otherwise end up in landfills requires innovative chemistry. Now, poly(acrylic acid) from diaper waste has been converted into valuable pressure-sensitive adhesives through an open-loop recycling method that is cost-effective and environmentally competitive.
Methods for the synthesis of bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes (BCPs) typically rely on the release of strain energy, but these routes cannot easily introduce substituents on the BCP bridges. Now, an intramolecular coupling gives access to multi-substituted BCPs, through the synthesis of bridge-substituted bicycloalkyl boronic esters.
Charged nanoparticles can behave as large ions or as small colloids. Their interaction with multivalent ions has now been shown to reflect this dichotomy, providing new paths to large, self-assembled nanoparticle superstructures.
Transition metal complexes with metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) luminescence and photoactivity typically rely on precious metals such as ruthenium or iridium. Now, two complexes of the Earth-abundant 3d manganese have displayed room-temperature MLCT luminescence in solution and a unique excited-state reactivity.
Although the natural lasso peptide microcin J25 remains an elusive target for total chemical synthesis itself, this topologically non-trivial building block has now been used to construct a range of interlocked molecular architectures including rotaxanes, catenanes and daisy chains.
